Heavens, how nostalgic! The very first thread I ever posted on Mudcat, in September 2000, nearly 12 years ago, was about what I saw then as Bob's rip-off of "Canadee-i-o". And as I recall, I got pretty roughly handled by the locals for re-upping what was even then a very old debate!

Well, it was pointed out at the time that the song wasn't Nic's, he had acquired it from somewhere and Bob, like anyone else, was perfectly entitled to use it, bringing his own influences (which certainly included Nic Jones) to bear on deciding how to treat the material.

This debate is ultimately sterile. What Bob Dylan has given to the world is a body of very significant songs, lines that stick in the memory, and remembrance of touring performances that range from sublime to bloody awful. I have seen him live on many occasions and would go again in a heartbeat. You never know what you're going to get. But on form or not, drunk or stoned, Dylan can still give a crowd a good evening. And it really doesn't matter where the melodies come from.

"I was so much older then: I'm younger than that now..."